High there

[Father Herman]

To my understanding, the term "Orthodox Church" can refer to a number of distinct religious traditions.

The Orthodox Church is a communion of Churches all having a single faith and practice. Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Romanian, Antiochian (the Arabic Churches) &c are all one. The only differences are language and culture.

Now, the Coptic Churches of Egypt are a somewhat different case. They left the Church in, I believe, the fifth century, but now many think they always intended to be Orthodox, but that linguistic differences created problems that were insurmountable at the time. Many now call them “Coptic Orthodox Churches.”

Could you be more specific about which church and which monastery you hail from?

I am presently in what’s called the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). I was on Mount Athos for about three and a half years, first at Grigoriou monastery, then at the Serbian monastery of Hilandar. When I came back to the States I attached myself to a Russian elder, Father Dimitry of Santa Rosa. Now I live alone (as if one can be “alone” with seven cats). My hermitage is called the Kéllion of Saint Makários the Great.

Could you tell us more about the specifics of your path, how one becomes a monk, and why you chose to become one?

This will have to wait until tomorrow.

“Apophenia” sounds Greek, but you're not Greek, are you? I don’t recognize it as a word or as a name, but my Greek isn’t that good. Where did you get it? Did you make it up yourself? Does it have a meaning, as so many Greek names do?

Nice little picture of a nun, by the way. Not an ikon, but it nicely emulates ikonic style in a western form. Where did you find it?

May God bless.

H

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I'm curious, Herman, why is your time online limited? Do you not have internet access out of choice due to some personal philosophy (if so, please share ), or is it related to religion?

I did have wireless a couple of years ago, thanks to a benefactor. But we had to cut back. So the answer is $$.
However, I kind of prefer it this way. It's a little inconvenient at times, but my use is more focussed.
H